Otherwise, they won’t live to retirement 0 13

Economy Minister Viktor Valainis (Union of Greens and Farmers) disagreed with accusations of pre-election populism in an interview with Latvian Radio. Responding to a question about the sudden decision of the Union of Greens and Farmers to support residents withdrawing funds from the second pension level, Valainis reminded that the 'greens and farmers' had been discussing this issue for a long time. 'At the congress of the Latvian Farmers' Union, a resolution on this matter was even adopted. Moreover, we are not proposing to simply distribute the savings - it is only about allowing a person to use their savings for treatment - at a critical moment, in case of a serious illness,' said V. Valainis. In response to the journalist's remark that people would receive a miserable pension in this case upon retirement, the minister said: 'We are not calling for the withdrawal of all savings; we are talking about using these funds for treatment. Otherwise, people simply won’t live to that pension.'